Lay summary
Mau rākau is a traditional Māori physical actvity. A mau rākau practitioner actively uses their wrist and shoulders to perform the activity. Mau Rākau movements necessitate active mobilisation of one’s shoulders. Although mau Rākau exercises primarily serves as a cultural education activity, its potential health benefits have not been explored. Shoulder arthritis ia a degenerative condition adversely affecting shoulder functionality due to pain. Currently there are two treatment choices for shoulder arthritis: shoulder surgery or exercise therapy. However, surgeries are expensive and most exercise interventions are clinical. As an alternative, mau rākau exercises might be effective in maintaining shoulder mobility, strength and, functionality. Research shows that community exercise interventions improve exercise compliance, social well-being and also reduces treatment drop-out rate. Therefore we aim to deliver a mau rākau based community exercise intervention to individuals with shoulder arthritis and asses the changes to their shoulder functionality and treatment compliance.